Persian Gulf Goes Dark For Container Shipping And There's No Detour Left By Stuart Chris of FreightWaves Ocean lines flee Strait of Hormuz as Iran targets Persian Gulf ports While tanker vessels came under fire in the Strait of Hormuz, container lines were suspending operations to Persian Gulf ports following the joint Israel-U.S. attack on Iran. Media reports said ports in the United Arab Emirate...
Persian Gulf Goes Dark For Container Shipping And There's No Detour Left By Stuart Chris of FreightWaves Ocean lines flee Strait of Hormuz as Iran targets Persian Gulf ports While tanker vessels came under fire in the Strait of Hormuz, container lines were suspending operations to Persian Gulf ports following the joint Israel-U.S. attack on Iran. Media reports said ports in the United Arab Emirates and Dubai’s port of Jebel Ali were hit by Iranian missiles, and that Tehran had attacked at least three tankers in the strait. A fire began at Jebel Ali after an incoming drone was intercepted. While the strait has not been officially closed, several liner operators suspended operations to the Persian Gulf, and ordered their vessels to seek shelter. Hormuz is the gateway for Persian Gulf energy transport, with about 20% of the world’s crude oil supply passing through its waters. While futures prices ticked up late Sunday, analysts note that 80% of Iran’s oil is sold to China, so it’s unclear what the extended effect could be on global markets. The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Centre, which monitors maritime security in the Middle East and Indian Ocean region, reported a number of attacks against vessels on Sunday. Shipping was caught in the crossfire after Tehran responded following Saturday’s Epic Fury attack that killed Iran’s leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and other high-ranking government and military officials. US Central Command on Sunday denied Iranian claims that it hit the carrier USS Abraham Lincoln with a ballistic missile. Maersk, CMA CGM and Mediterranean Shipping Co. suspended or shifted vessel services to the region. CMA CGM also announced an Emergency Conflict Surcharge of $2,000 for 20-foot, $3,000 per 40-foot and $4,000 per refrigerated container. The surcharge covers all Red Sea ports in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, Djibouti, Sudan and Eritrea, as well as Persian Gulf destinations. Maersk prior to the outbreak of hostilities said the deteri...
As the federal immigration crackdown has expanded across the United States, the government’s activities have relied on infrastructure from several key tech companies. The defense tech and IT infrastructure giant Palantir has received particular attention for its work with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. However, when it comes to selling tech to federal immigration authorities, Palantir is far...
As the federal immigration crackdown has expanded across the United States, the government’s activities have relied on infrastructure from several key tech companies. The defense tech and IT infrastructure giant Palantir has received particular attention for its work with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. However, when it comes to selling tech to federal immigration authorities, Palantir is far from alone: ICE and Customs and Border Protection are paying hundreds of millions of dollars for products and services from companies like Microsoft, Amazon, and Google. WIRED examined data and records dated from January 1, 2023, to the present that were posted in the two federal contracting databases—the System for Award Management (SAM) and the Federal Procurement Data System (FPDS)—focusing on contracts with the companies or contract descriptions that explicitly name the companies or use relevant shorthand. WIRED also reviewed public documents from ICE and the Department of Homeland Security pertaining to the technology at ICE and CBP’s disposal. Collectively, they reveal that the agencies are willing to spend significant sums of money to ensure that the companies continue to power their operations. In total, Palantir has earned about $121.9 million in payments and obligations from ICE since 2023. In that same time frame, ICE has paid for products worth at least $94 million from Microsoft, at least $51 million from Amazon, and at least $921,000 from Google. CBP, meanwhile, has paid for products worth at least $81 million from Microsoft, at least $158 million from Amazon, and at least $7 million from Google. These are minimum estimates that exclude payments that do not directly mention these companies or their core offerings in publicly available documents. Many of the payments are for cloud storage powering operations across the agencies. Some payment descriptions mention particular offices—like ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations, which carries out arrests and dep...
Photo: VCG The escalating U.S.-Israel-Iran military conflict has disrupted Chinese car shipments to the Middle East, paralyzing business operations in Iran and threatening the viability of the United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.) as a crucial transshipment hub. A source at a Chinese state-owned automaker told Caixin that his company’s business in Iran has stalled, with the ripple effects already spreadin...
Photo: VCG The escalating U.S.-Israel-Iran military conflict has disrupted Chinese car shipments to the Middle East, paralyzing business operations in Iran and threatening the viability of the United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.) as a crucial transshipment hub. A source at a Chinese state-owned automaker told Caixin that his company’s business in Iran has stalled, with the ripple effects already spreading to other markets. A car trader said that many Chinese auto traders use Dubai as a transit point for exports to other markets in the Middle East and West and North Africa, but that hub is now considered unsafe due to the military operations.
Reach LON: RCH reported a year of higher profits and ongoing strategic change in its full-year 2025 results presentation, while management highlighted a sharply more volatile digital referral environment in the second half of the year—driven largely by changes at Google—that has carried into the start of 2026. Get Reach alerts: Sign Up Chief Executive Officer Piers North said the company delivered...
Reach LON: RCH reported a year of higher profits and ongoing strategic change in its full-year 2025 results presentation, while management highlighted a sharply more volatile digital referral environment in the second half of the year—driven largely by changes at Google—that has carried into the start of 2026. Get Reach alerts: Sign Up Chief Executive Officer Piers North said the company delivered “growing profits” and an operating margin of “over 20%” during what he described as a busy first year in the role. He pointed to progress against three strategic priorities laid out in July—expanding video, accelerating the use of technology and AI, and diversifying revenue with subscriptions—alongside operational actions across pensions and printing. Financial performance: profits rise as revenue declines Chief Financial Officer Darren Fisher said Reach delivered “a strong set of financial results despite the challenging market conditions,” citing cost discipline, strong cash conversion, and a higher operating profit. Revenue: GBP 518 million, down GBP 20 million (a 3.7% decline). GBP 518 million, down GBP 20 million (a 3.7% decline). Digital revenue: GBP 129 million, down 0.9%. GBP 129 million, down 0.9%. Print revenue: GBP 388 million, down 4.6% and representing 75% of total revenue. GBP 388 million, down 4.6% and representing 75% of total revenue. Operating profit: GBP 105 million, up 2.4% (GBP 3 million). GBP 105 million, up 2.4% (GBP 3 million). Adjusted operating margin: 20%, up 1 percentage point. 20%, up 1 percentage point. Adjusted operating cash flow: GBP 104 million; cash conversion was 99%. GBP 104 million; cash conversion was 99%. Net debt: GBP 35 million at year-end. GBP 35 million at year-end. Dividend: maintained at 7.34 pence per share for the year. Fisher also noted Reach reduced adjusted operating costs by 5.2%, ahead of the 4%–5% range previously guided. Digital: Google referral changes hit page views, but indirect revenue grew Management emphasized th...
Infosys ( INFY ) and Intel ( INTC ) on Tuesday announced the next phase of their strategic collaboration to help enterprises move from AI pilots to production at scale. The expanded partnership combines Intel’s energy-efficient, high-performance compute platforms with Infosys Topaz Fabric, a suite of AI tools that connects systems, data, and applications to help businesses build and run AI solutio...
Infosys ( INFY ) and Intel ( INTC ) on Tuesday announced the next phase of their strategic collaboration to help enterprises move from AI pilots to production at scale. The expanded partnership combines Intel’s energy-efficient, high-performance compute platforms with Infosys Topaz Fabric, a suite of AI tools that connects systems, data, and applications to help businesses build and run AI solutions more easily. "Working closely with Infosys allows us to bring the power of Intel's AI hardware ecosystem to enterprises globally. Together, we are delivering performance–optimized, energy–efficient, and open AI solutions that clients can deploy wherever their workloads reside – from data centers to the cloud to the edge," Intel ( INTC ) CEO Lip-Bu Tan said. More on Infosys, Intel Intel Nicely On Target, More Required Intel: The CPU Comeback Is An Execution Reality Check Infosys Limited (INFY) Discusses Tech Transitions and the Unique Aspects of the AI Era Transcript Intel strikes deal with AI chip start-up SambaNova its CEO Lip-Bu Tan invested in Nvidia re-enters PC market with AI-powered laptop chips
Though the art world is supposed to be inclusive, that isn’t the experience of many disabled creatives – and in a groundbreaking online exhibition at dis_place they have poured their frustrations into art “I had a lot of frustration about the performance of diversity, equality and inclusion,” says curator Nathalie Boobis. Feeling that the art world’s commitment to access for disabled people was of...
Though the art world is supposed to be inclusive, that isn’t the experience of many disabled creatives – and in a groundbreaking online exhibition at dis_place they have poured their frustrations into art “I had a lot of frustration about the performance of diversity, equality and inclusion,” says curator Nathalie Boobis. Feeling that the art world’s commitment to access for disabled people was often performative rather than manifesting a sincere commitment to change, Boobis decided to step away. But then came an opportunity to be the in-house curator for Disability Arts Online’s new exhibition space dis_place , and she felt this was finally her chance to highlight disabled experiences in art. Her inaugural exhibition for dis_place is called I Need to Be More Than a Lesson You Learned . Featuring the work of nine artists and collectives working across several media, it explores the ways in which disabled artists have experienced inaccessibility within the art world and wider society. Continue reading...
This article first appeared on GuruFocus. Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) may be taking its partnership with Google (GOOG) a step further as it works to upgrade Siri, with reports suggesting the collaboration could extend beyond AI models and into cloud infrastructure. After confirming plans to tap Google's AI technology for the next version of Siri, Apple is now said to be exploring whether Google Cloud coul...
This article first appeared on GuruFocus. Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) may be taking its partnership with Google (GOOG) a step further as it works to upgrade Siri, with reports suggesting the collaboration could extend beyond AI models and into cloud infrastructure. After confirming plans to tap Google's AI technology for the next version of Siri, Apple is now said to be exploring whether Google Cloud could help power parts of the revamped assistant behind the scenes. According to reports, Google has already evaluated setting up servers in its own data centers to support the effort, while agreeing to comply with Apple's strict privacy requirements. Google Cloud already works with Apple in certain areas, including storage services and training some of Apple's internal AI models. Rather than dramatically expanding its own data center footprint, Apple appears to be leaning toward a hybrid strategy that blends its private cloud with outside providers like Google and Amazon Web Services (NASDAQ:AMZN).
South Africa is seeking private sector partners to ramp up its sale of government bonds to the retail market, potentially widening its investor base and lowering the cost of borrowing. “There’s a big opportunity,” National Treasury Director-General Duncan Pieterse told Bloomberg in an interview at its Johannesburg offices on Monday. South Africa’s existing retail-bond sale program raises about 3 b...
South Africa is seeking private sector partners to ramp up its sale of government bonds to the retail market, potentially widening its investor base and lowering the cost of borrowing. “There’s a big opportunity,” National Treasury Director-General Duncan Pieterse told Bloomberg in an interview at its Johannesburg offices on Monday. South Africa’s existing retail-bond sale program raises about 3 billion rand ($184 million) a year, for a total amount currently outstanding of just over 20 billion rand, according to the Treasury. Pieterse said that this fell short of the retail market’s potential and if sales could be durably increased — for example to as much as 30 billion rand — it could mean relying less on institutional investors and reducing the size of weekly bond auctions. Read More: South Africa Treasury Says It Can Weather Shocks Like Iran War “That obviously gives you an opportunity to take some of that supply that you are currently putting there from a fixed-rate bond and inflation-linked bond perspective out of the market, further compressing yields and decreasing interest rates,” he said. South Africa’s borrowing requirement is projected to decline to 380 billion rand in 2026-27 from 563 billion rand in the current fiscal year, before rising to 569 billion rand in 2027-28. The rand and benchmark government bonds have rallied sharply in recent months, buoyed in part by growing confidence that the Treasury will deliver on its promise to control public finances, as well as the adoption of a 3% inflation target by the central bank that Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana explicitly endorsed in November. Pieterse expects a private-sector partner to be appointed by the time of next year’s budget in February, giving the Treasury a clearer sense of the baseline potential for retail issuance. He’s also optimistic about the prospects for further South African infrastructure bonds, after the country’s debut issue attracted strong demand last year, raising 11.8 billion ...
For Immediate Release Chicago, IL – March 3, 2026 – Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: Broadcom AVGO, Cisco Systems CSCO, Arista Networks ANET and Marvell Technology MRVL. Here are highlights from...
For Immediate Release Chicago, IL – March 3, 2026 – Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: Broadcom AVGO, Cisco Systems CSCO, Arista Networks ANET and Marvell Technology MRVL. Here are highlights from Monday’s Analyst Blog: Buy, Sell or Hold Broadcom Stock? Key Tips Ahead of Q1 Earnings Broadcom is set to report its first-quarter fiscal 2026 results on March 4. For first-quarter fiscal 2026, AVGO expects revenues of $19.1 billion. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenues is pegged at $19.27 billion, suggesting growth of 29.2% from the year-ago quarter’s reported figure. The consensus mark for earnings has been unchanged at $2.03 per share over the past 30 days, indicating 27% growth from the figure reported in the year-ago quarter. Broadcom’s earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in all the trailing four quarters, the average earnings surprise being 3.35%. Broadcom Inc. price-eps-surprise | Broadcom Inc. Quote Let us see how things have shaped up for AVGO shares prior to this announcement. Factors to Note Prior to Broadcom’s Q1 Earnings Broadcom’s fiscal first-quarter performance is expected to have benefited from its expanding AI offerings. AI revenues are expected to double year over year to $8.2 billion, thanks to strong demand for custom AI accelerators (XPUs), which are a type of application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) necessary to train Generative AI models. Broadcom’s current order backlog for AI switches exceeds $10 billion as AVGO’s latest 102-terabit per second Tomahawk 6 switch continues to gain traction. AVGO’s networking portfolio is gaining from strong demand for Tomahawk 6 products, as well as the Jericho 4 Ethernet fabric router. Moreover, Broadcom has a rich partner base that includes the likes of OpenAI, Walmart, NVIDIA, Canonical, Arist...